RYANAIR has pre-cancelled almost 200 flights for Friday due to strikes by cabin crews across Europe.
The airline advised customers that 190 flights scheduled for Friday 28 September will not take off as a result of strikes by cabin crews in Spain, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Italy and Germany.
Ryanair Pre-Cancels Under 190 Of 2,400 (8%) Scheduled Flights On Fri 28th Sept: https://t.co/yErvVaCLgm
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) September 25, 2018
Customers were informed of the disruptions via email and text.
The cancellations will affect 30,000 passengers, as 8% of the Irish airlines 2,400 scheduled flights for the day will not go ahead.
Ryanair released a statement telling those affected that it “sincerely regrets these unnecessary customer disruptions”, which it blames on agitation from competitor airlines.
The statement added: "These repeated unnecessary strikes are damaging Ryanair’s business and our customer confidence at a time when oil prices are rising strongly, and if they continue, it is inevitable that we will have to look again at our capacity growth this winter and in summer 2019. We hope these unions will see common sense and work with us to finalise agreements for the benefit of our pilots and cabin crew over the coming weeks without further disrupting our customers or our flights."
Staff based in countries other than Ireland are unhappy that Ryanair has been employing them under Irish legislation.
Staff claim this creates significant insecurity for them, blocking their access to state benefits in their home country.
Ryanair cancelled hundreds of flights last year due to problems with pilot scheduling, and strikes led to more cancellations this summer.
The budget airline and pilots have struggled to reach an agreement over working conditions, base transfers and annual leave.
Ryanair have also announced two new routes from Ireland to Italy today.
A new route from Dublin to Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, will run twice weekly for a short period during its peak summer schedule (July-August) of next year while a Cork to Naples route will run during the same time period.
